ESCAP, IUCN and UNEP hosted a Brainstorming Session to discuss a framework for Water Security and solicit support and participation of ESCAP partners in the development of a “Water Insecurity Index”, on 23-24 July at Novotel Lotus Hotel, Bangkok. The resulting framework will serve as input to the analysis at the 2010 Regional Report on sustainable development.

The Regional Report on sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific (otherwise known as State of the Environment (SOE) Report) has been published every five years since 1985. The assessments provided by the SOE have been used by policymakers, researchers and students. The report is a key input to the Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific (MCED), held every five years. Starting out as a report on environmental conditions and trends and assessment of regional responses in 1985, the scope of the SOE has widened with each successive report to cover issues such as industrial development, tourism and food security, along with meeting its core function – assessment of environmental conditions trends and the analysis of regional responses. The SOE 2005 report integrated analysis of economic and environmental trends, focusing attention on patterns of economic growth, in keeping with the theme of the MCED 2005 – environmentally sustainable economic growth.

The SOE Report 2005 dedicated a section on analyzing the state of water resources. The report presented pressures that threaten sustainability of water supply in various countries in Asia and the Pacific. Poor infrastructure, climate change and patterns of resource exploitation were presented as significant threats. Industrial, agricultural and domestic water uses were analyzed in detail. The challenge of meeting future demand was assessed and several recommendations were made, including: developing equitable water-allocation and sharing policies, adjusting supply-side approaches, improving water efficiency and demand-side management and focusing on sustainable infrastructure development. The issues of meeting the MDGs and particularly MDG 7 were addressed separately.

For the 2010 regional report on sustainable development (SOE Report 2010), ESCAP wishes to depart from the previous sectoral and ‘mono-dimensional’ approach to water resources and propose a more ‘holistic’ analysis of the challenges facing water users and managers across the region.  

In this regard, the main objective of this brainstorming session was to draw on the complementary strengths of participating experts to jointly produce an objective, credible, high quality framework for the analysis of the Water Security conditions in the ESCAP region. Brainstorming participants helped define, deconstruct and assess the concept of water security and, by discussing the possible elements and measurement of a Water Insecurity Index. The outcomes of the discussion will be compiled in a report (currently under development) and will also be reflected in the analysis of Water security in the 2010 regional report on sustainable development (SOE Report 2010) (the core of the analysis will be in Chapter 7: “Resilience and security: Climate, water and disaster preparedness”, with supporting analysis in other parts of the report).

The total of 22 participants in the brainstorming session included experts from International Organizations (UNESCAP, UNEP, FAO) and from other research institutions (SEI, IUCN, KICT, AASA China) as well as academic world (Chiang Mai University). The invited experts had long experience in the water sector, particularly at the strategic and policy-making level.

List of Participants